Growing Up
by Renolvr
Summary: Things had been good,disaster had been defeated again,and finally,they had all gotten to start their own families,and so they had all gone their separate ways.Though not without their difficulties,more so for Cloud and Tifa,now it's time for their reunion
1. Grown Up

**_A/N: Heya huns! Long time no see, I have a week off school for the Mid-Term, so I decided that I'm so sick to the teeth of studying and homework, I want to write some chapters and fics! This is something I started a few months back, but I never got to start properly because of school, anyhow, I hope you like huns!

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_**"One to Kalm - but it doesn't have to be there till the end of the week - you can give it to Denzel, the rest are in Edge. There's fresh coffee in the pot, I changed the keg Mom asked you to change Tuesday too, morning by the way."

Cloud blinked slowly as he took a seat at the kitchen table, mentally attempting to decipher the string of words which had just assaulted his hearing. Why did she always have to speak so fast? Especially in the mornings. He was blond - he hated people using that as an excuse or a jibe, but he didn't mind using it in his own defence - and it was early. It had only just turned seven and orders were already being tossed his way. The time also gave rise to another question in his mind; what was Rach doing up this early anyhow? School had finished a few weeks ago, as had her exams, any other teenager would still be in bed at this hour. Cloud hid a yawn behind his hand as he stood and set about pouring a cup of coffee.

"Why're you up already? And you know your Mom's gonna flip when she finds out you changed the keg."

A small, cheeky smirk and a peck on his cheek along with some choice words were all that met the father's words as the teenager bounded from the kitchen and into the bar, evidently setting up before opening. She never did listen to his or Tifa's chastising, when she was younger maybe to an extent, but not really anymore.

"What Mom doesn't know won't hurt her!"

Despite himself, Cloud smirked as he stood and followed his daughter into the bar; that was Rach, always had been and probably always would be, regardless of his and Tifa's opinions. _Seventeen_…it seemed like only yesterday that Rach had been born. Though the road had not been a pleasant one, nothing ever seemed to be when he was involved. By all medical opinions Rachelle shouldn't have been born, he and Tifa had tried for a baby for a long time before Tyler - one of ShinRa's employed doctors - had diagnosed the problem; _scar tissue_, _the result of repetitive blows and injuries_…her womb was incapable of bearing a child. But once they had resigned themselves to such a fact, Tifa had began being ill in the mornings, she had fallen pregnant.

Anyone else would have thought they'd had their fill of bad luck at that stage, but nope. Not for him, Cloud had personally decided that someone was looking down at him laughing their asses off - probably Zack - no way was it normal for someone to have such a run of bad luck as he had had in his life. It seemed for every good thing that happened, something bad crept up to over shadow it. Tifa had fallen pregnant but after only eight months, she had given birth to Rachelle, though the traumatic birth had ended in a hysterectomy.

At least they had Rach, at least she had been the consolation, though even that had been threatened; Rach had been born with a weak immune system - due to her being born a month premature - leaving her prone to chest infections and colds. It had taken some getting used to, but they had learnt how to deal with it and how to prevent her from becoming ill.

After that things had been relatively easy until Rach had been six months old; both he and Tifa had been away visiting Tseng and Elena in Wutai for the weekend, leaving Denzel to look after his infant sister. They had received a call later that night from Rufus explaining that Rach had been admitted to hospital; Denzel had got to check on her during the night and found his little sister having trouble breathing and her lips blue. The teenager had called Rach's godfather immediately, only for Reno to call an ambulance when he'd arrived at the bar and seen Rach, the diagnosis; _an atrial myxoma_…_a non-cancerous heart tumour, growing on the septum of the heart, the wall that divides the two sides of the heart_.

Still, almost eighteen years had passed since, though not without their difficulties. Rach was not only prone to becoming ill but also suffered from complications due to her heart problem, such as chest pains, shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, fever, weight loss - but she always took it in her stride, never complaining, though she did tend to get slightly irked when she didn't get to do certain things due to the myxoma.

"Rach, what time are you up since? And why?"

The youth shrugged lightly as she tied her ebony tresses back into a loose pony-tail. She knew why she'd been up since before six, she'd had a pain in her chest all night, but she wasn't about to tell her father that - it wasn't that she didn't want to tell her Dad - but if she did, then he would tell her Mom and that's where the shit would hit the fan. The two of them would end up dragging her to a check up, something she would only be brought to kicking and screaming against.

"I'm up since around half-six, I just couldn't sleep, I just felt funny and I wasn't tired. So, everyone's coming Friday? I can't wait to see Marlene again!"

She couldn't help herself, she was so excited! It had been over a year since Rach had seen her older sister, due to Marlene being at University studying medicine, but now she had finally gained her qualification and was coming back home, Rufus had offered her a job as a ShinRa doctor after Tyler had recommended her. Not only that but a surprise party was scheduled for Friday to mark the occasion - Barrett was going to collect Marlene and then bring her to the bar - a proper reunion. Everyone had been invited, all the kids she hadn't seen since she had been only a little child herself. All her parents' friends. Denzel had explained it to her a week or so ago, how they had all gone their separate ways when the kids had been toddlers. Though they had all attempted to stay in contact, life had gotten in the way and before any of them had noticed, weeks had elapsed into months, and months had elapsed into years.

But now they were all going to come face to face again on Friday. She still kind of remembered all the other kids but only slightly, Jenny had been the first to move away with her parents - Vincent and Yuffie - Yuffie's father had fallen ill and she had had to go back and take up her role as Wutai's heir. Then Mike had left when his Dad and Mom had moved back to Rocket Town. Then San had left a year or two after the rest, her parents had decided to move away after her Dad had retired from the Turks, then Matt had gone back to Kalm with his parents. The only one she had kept real friends with was Damien - Rufus' son - they lived near each other and were the same age, they'd grown up together and were the best of friends, though they never passed up a chance to pull the carpet out from under the other's feet. Not to mention Damien was about the only person who seemed to leave her to her own devices, instead of constantly telling her what she could and could not do.

Cloud nodded his head as he smiled, Friday was the big day, it had been the guts of fourteen years since the whole gang had been together. And try as he might, it was difficult to ignore that odd little feeling in the pit of his stomach…_what would they all look like? How would they all react? What were all the kids like now?_

"Dad - I'm heading out - promised Damien I'd be over before half-eight, there's a meeting early so I'm gonna hang around till it's done, talk to you later Dad!"

And with that the door to Seventh Heaven swung shut, giving the father no time to argue with his daughter or reply in any way. She shouldn't have been up that early, he knew that, but he also knew she wasn't a kid any longer and it wasn't fair to keep trying to wrap her in cotton wool, especially now that she was older. Come Friday there would be three other teenagers around the place, all of which to the best of his knowledge were all a little older than Rach, having turned eighteen already, and without any ailments such as his daughter's.

"How long is she up? And the truth?"

Cloud froze as Tifa's voice seemingly materialized behind him. He had a habit of siding with Rach when it came to these kind of conversations while Tifa didn't, Tifa was the one with her hand on the phone and having half of Tyler's phone number already entered on her phone. But he wasn't about to start an argument over it this early in the morning, he shrugged his shoulders lightly as he pulled back the bolt at the top of Seventh Heaven's doors, shuffling it a bit as it got stuck half way as usual, then bent down to do the same to the bottom bolt.

"Truthfully - I haven't a clue - she said half-six, so I'm guessing about six, give or take a bit. Don't look at me like that Tifa, I have my back turned to you and I can still feel that glare, I can't do anything about it, she's not a little kid that you can give a bed-time to anymore."

Tifa took a breath to say something as she pulled her night gown closer around her body, having become aware of how cold the air was this morning, she couldn't help but worry. Rach was their baby, teenager or not, she always would be the baby of the family. And she was the mother. Mother's had a way of picking up on things when you tried to hid them, and Tifa was no exception to that.

"Cloud, I think we should call Tyler, she's been having chest pains…"

Cloud stood up from unbolting the doors, the task having been made shorter by Rach having already unbolted one, he shook his head as he turned to face his wife, leaning his back against the wall as he did so. He had already guessed as much regarding Rach, and although the father side of him was telling him that Tifa was right, that they should call Tyler, Rach's doctor, his heart was telling him no. They'd done so before, and it had caused a rift between they youth and them for near on three weeks, and sure, they had literally been in the right to do so, they were her parents and all they had been worried about had been her welfare, they had still gone straight to the doctor without telling her or asking the youth…she was the one who had to live with the ailment, so she should have the deciding factor on it.

"No. You remember what happened last time Tifa, I'm not about to cause World War Three between the three of us again, it's just not worth it anymore. Okay, I agree that she was lying when she told me what time she was up at, and I figured it had been because of chest pains, but the fact is; she didn't tell us. And until she decides to, then the ball's in her court, she'll know when she needs help, she's capable of looking after herself for a little bit."

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"Damn, shouldn't you be in bed or something? C'mon - let's face it yo - ya need the beauty sleep!"

Rach stuck out her tongue as she walked through the front doors of the ShinRa building into the lobby area, having already expected the teasing words of her godfather. Not a single morning went by without him making some sort of a smart comment upon her arrival, but she guessed that's why she loved him really. He wasn't like all the other adults, you could talk to him and he wouldn't treat you like a kid, or tattle on you to your parents at the end of the day.

"What the hell possessed Rufus to appoint you head Turk? Were Turks actually that low in numbers that you were the best of the bunch…talk about a bad crop that year!"

Reno nodded his head smirking as he continued to hang over the railings of the second floor, not giving a care in the world as several personnel stopped to stare at him, wondering what he was doing. He didn't care in the slightest, he was the head Turk now so he had the authority to take a break if he wanted to. Screw their schedules! As for what had possessed Rufus to appoint him head Turk - yeah - that was a mystery to him too. Or at least it had been for a while. Tseng deciding to retire had thrown them all for a loop.

But Tseng had been in the division long enough, he'd seen The Turks at their height, watched them fall and then had helped to rebuild the revered ranks. When the chance had come to leave on early retirement, he'd taken it, as had his wife Elena. They'd started a family, a lovely little girl, whom he had been asked to be godfather for too, San - she was the most trouble-making little toddler there had ever been! It had been fun watching her and the rest grow up from little babies to toddlers, but then they'd all gone their separate ways. Tseng and Elena had left the force and moved back to Tseng's home place, Wutai. They'd been the first to go after Yuffie and Vincent. After that, Cid and Shera had moved back to Rocket Town, Reeve and Shalua had returned to Kalm.

Barret came and went as per usual, that had been it then - all gone before they'd known they were going really. He found out after Tseng had left, that it had been him to recommend his place to be filled by the Turks' second-in-command, himself; Reno. Strangely enough, Rufus had been all too willing to agree, something that still shocked him to this day.

He actually had to do his own paper work now, along with ensuring that all the others under his command got theirs in on time also. Not to mention organizing missions, recon missions, mock runs for recruits, recruit training, tracking…just - a lot of things! He never thought Tseng had had that much to deal with, looking back now he guessed he hadn't really made it all that much more easy on the man, constantly slacking off, ignoring his paper work, taking random days off, coming in with the mother and father of all hangovers on several occasions. How Tseng had actually put up with him all those years was beyond him.

He had already rejected several recruits on similar offences. It was kinda ironic really; all they way through Junon, they were being led to believe the most lenient of the Turks was now their boss, only for them to get a kick up the arse when they finally made it to Edge. He had been the most lenient of the Turks, but he'd had to grow up in the years that had transpired since he'd moved up in the ranks. Looking back once more - Tseng had known what he was doing recommending him for the place. So had Rufus, he wanted to thank them.

Without them forcing him to grow up, he wouldn't have his family today. It had taken a lot of mature thinking for the man to fix what he had ruined when he'd been a kid, when he'd abandoned the one girl he'd ever liked that way. But he'd found her again and they'd made a go at it. That had been almost five years back now, and the small golden band on his left ring finger only proved to back up the decisions Tseng and Rufus had made, they'd managed to tame the untameable Turk._**

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A/N: So, any thoughts hun? Thanks for reading either way!**_


	2. Decision

_**A/N: Wow, haven't even thought about this fic for a while - I got bored earlier so went off and did a ton of research about Rach's atrial myxoma. See, I had already, but with exams and stuff I'd put it aside and lost it, I read back over this yesterday and really wanted to get back into it :P**_

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"So, why're you here so early?"

Rach shrugged as she finished climbing the stairs leading to where Reno still stood watching her from over the railings. It was either come here and wait to annoy Damien or stay back at home and get interrogated by her Mom. It wasn't that she didn't get on with her Mom or anything, just sometimes she could be a little too protective. She meant well, she knew that in her heart and soul, but sometimes space was needed.

"I was up really early; Dad asked some questions, so I split before Mom asked me even more."

He should have guessed that much. It was the usual story with Rach. Though he couldn't really blame her, if Tifa had her way she would wrap the kid up in cotton wool and sit her on the cushioned sofa all day long. Then again, he couldn't really blame Tifa all that much either. Going back a few months and he hadn't seen much sense in the woman's constant watching and worrying. He had been constantly siding with his god-daughter, but now that he was a Dad too he saw Tifa's side in a whole different light.

Hayleigh – Leigh for short – was his pride and joy, his baby girl. As far as he was concerned, she was his girl and his alone. Men would not exist in her life until she was at the very least forty-three…if not a bit older. He'd walk through a fire to help her and even though he hated admitting it; he could already see himself doing what Tifa was. Thankfully Leigh was as healthy as any other infant her age, maybe a little more boisterous than them, but no heart condition and no weak immune system; thank Minerva. But he was already trying to get her to play with cute little soft toys; ones without pointy edges and ones that didn't leave him with bruises either.

Reno shook his head as he started heading towards the Turks' Lounge, mentally taking note of how crowded and congested the building was lately. That was probably due to the recent influx of recruits from the academy, he knew looking at the majority of them they wouldn't make the final cut. They were too much like he had been, slacking off and not taking his job seriously; he still didn't understand why Tseng had put up with his bullshit for so long. He certainly wouldn't have and wasn't either; about a dozen or so recruits had already been dismissed by him due to them not meeting the criteria required for the Turks, though one asshole had been dismissed purely on his dislike of the young man. A mouth too big, a brain too small and not a clue in the most basic fundamentals of combat; the academy official who had recommended the asshole had ended up receiving a mouthful of abuse from him. It possibly hadn't helped that he'd been up all night with a crying baby, but that had been beside the point.

"Your boyfriend'll be out of the meeting in about fifteen minutes yo."

Rach stuck her tongue out as the Turk gave her a suggestive look. He always did that, trying to get her agree by accident. She and Damien were friends, best friends, but that was all. The two of them had always been that way, as far as she could remember they had been together. Either at ShinRa or at the bar; even at school, now that had been fun. Damien was a best friend, but a rather protective one at that. She had had her fair share of boyfriends, a lot of them being jerks. She didn't know what it was about her, but the asses just seemed to keep coming, hence why she had been single with the last few months; though she hated admitting it, she had a protective cushion to fall back on when things went bad, and his name was Damien.

The nineteen-year-old vice president of ShinRa was her emotional outlet. He was the one thing that would stop her having a mental break down when she was thirty, when things got to her he was the person who listened and gave advice. He was the one who treated her normally when others wanted to wrap her in cotton wool. He was about the only person she couldn't lie to, not that she didn't try, he just always knew.

"Bite me, I'm single."

"Who's single?"

"None of your business, yo – get back to work."

She was forced to bite back a laugh as one of the young recruits left the lounge at remarkable speed. Way to go Reno, he was actually good looking and all. He had just managed to pop up at the wrong moment. Point proven there, if Damien wasn't around Reno was only too willing to take up the protective role for a while. Rach winced as sharp pain shot across her chest, she faltered unintentionally as her breath caught in her throat; this was exactly why she had been up early, it only got worse when she was lying down.

"Y'alright?"

"Um…yeah."

"You're not, sit down."

Reno frowned as he kicked another of the recruits out of the way, making a space on the sofa and steering the still bent over Rach towards the cushioned piece of furniture. This place was seriously over-run lately; the sooner they weeded out the weakest links the better; breathing space again. She really needed to learn to say when she wasn't okay, seriously. The Turk shook his head as he pushed some loose strands of Rach's black hair back behind her ear, her skin was hot; her hand on her chest told him she wasn't mentioning something else, as usual.

Another second and Reno had crossed the lounge, kicking more recruits out of the way as he knocked on the tap and grabbed a glass from the press before filling it and walking back across to where Rach was sitting. Another recruit lost his foot rest as Reno yanked the coffee table away from under his feet as he sat on its edge, handing Rach the glass of water. She could try and hide it all she wanted and pretend nothing was up, but he was her godfather, her guardian after her parents. He knew any symptoms; years of trying to notice what she tried to hide had drilled it into her parents' heads, his head, Aly's head, Denzel's head, and even Rufus' head. And now the recruits were really bugging him, they wouldn't shut up. Reno stood back up as he directed his attention to the noisy room; deciding to pull rank on the room.

"Everyone out now – argue and you're on paperwork for a week yo!"

The term mass exodus suddenly came to mind as she watched the room empty in record time; could paperwork actually be that bad? She doubted that, but she didn't fancy going against Reno either. Denzel always teased the man about being laid back and other random things, but as far back as she could remember, Reno had been like how he was now. She barely remembered San's parents, her Dad had been the head Turk before Reno apparently; she had to trust others' words there though.

"Why were you up early?"

"I just was."

Reno smirked as he sat back a bit on the coffee table, staring the teenager down. Like hell he was about to believe that coupled with what had just happened. He wasn't an idiot, he might have been when he was younger, but that was a life time ago now. And she hadn't known him back then, so therefore she had no right to take him for an idiot…and now he was debating with himself; great. This could play out both ways; the first one wouldn't please her at all, it consisted of ringing her parents and informing them that he had taken her to get checked over by Tyler. The second would be more to her suiting and his, it consisted of her telling the truth and making a promise to him, he wasn't exactly a fan of arguing with teenagers.

"D'you seriously think I'm gonna believe that?"

No, she didn't. She wished he did, but wishing was one thing and it wasn't the truth. It wasn't the truth, but she didn't want him to turn around and tell her parents, if he did then she was going to end up in and out of hospital for the next week or two, if that happened then she would either miss or ruin the party on Friday – she didn't want that. This party had taken ages to organize, weeks so far.

She didn't want to be the person to ruin it all – not when Denzel kept talking about reuniting the old gang again, she wanted to see them all. To see all the friends she had lost touch with when they'd only been little kids. She hadn't gotten to spend as much time with them as they had together, she'd been sick a lot when she was smaller and hadn't been able to keep up with the others when they played outside; running around, climbing, playing football, even running up and down the stairs had been out of her abilities when she'd been younger. She didn't want to be the one left out of it all again.

"Reno – please don't tell Mom and Dad – please? Everything is set for Friday. I don't want to be in and out of hospital for the next two weeks, I don't want to be left out of the gang again coz of this stupid thing!"

Damn his bleeding heart. Damn his softened heart, he'd never been one for caving when he'd been younger, but things had really changed since Tseng had retired. Responsibility had whipped him into shape and straightened out his head; made him realise just what he was missing out on. Realization had lead him to tracking Aly down again; opening his heart again. Opening his heart had led to a wedding; leading to his own family and the banishment of the hard-headed cynical lanky twerp he had been.

Now he felt guilty despite not having done anything wrong. Damn women full stop – Aly had softened him, Rach had worried him sick and Leigh had him wrapped around her little finger – females really knew what buttons to push. Okay, he wouldn't go to Cloud and Tifa, despite the fact that if Cloud ever found out he would probably kill him. But she couldn't keep hiding the fact she was run down a lot lately. Reno groaned as he stared at the ceiling for a minute, silently debating with himself; did he do the godfather thing and trust Rach or did he do the parent thing and inform her parents? If he did, then she wouldn't trust him anymore and would start hiding stuff from him.

"Ah, okay. You win Rach. I won't tell your Mom and Dad yo, but you have to promise me something, two things actually…"

And this was exactly why she loved Reno – he didn't immediately drag her to the hospital to be used as a human pin cushion. She despised needles, though she reckoned she had a pretty good right to. Whatever he wanted, she would do it. She just didn't want Friday ruined because of something stupid. She'd go to Tyler as soon as Friday was over if she still felt off, but just give her that long and then she'd do whatever.

"Name your price."

Oh, how very dangerous those words could be. A million favours immediately came to mind, that would be unfair though. He'd leave her off with telling her parents this time, but only on the condition that if things got worse she would tell him. Tell either him or her parents, but one of them before things got too bad. Not that he expected they would, but she needed to take stuff seriously; anything to do with her heart was not minor.

"Look, I won't say anything yo so long as you promise that if anything gets worse, you either come straight to me or go straight to your parents…and baby-sit Leigh for Aly and me on Tuesday?"

Rach laughed as she fell sideways on the couch, finding it impossible to keep a straight face at the Turk's instant switch from worried and serious to pleading. On one hand he was telling her to take things easy and to make sure she told someone if she felt worse, while on the other he was fishing for a babysitter. To any other person, babysitting Leigh was a no-go area. The nine month old was an imp, plain and simple. She was at the cute age, where she spent most of the day crawling around the floor or playing in her walker, though a mischievous streak was more than evident even at her young age. So far she had totalled about four phones of Reno's by dropping them into the toilet, his keys had already been flushed a few times, along with his cigarettes and lighter – though she still reckoned Leigh had done that with some encouragement from her mom; Aly.

Leigh had already proved too much for a few babysitters, the baby was a live wire, always on the go and curious about everything, she was an utter dote, too cute for her own good, but an imp too, a tiny trouble maker – and she loved her to bits for it! But now she was teething and had taken to teething on whatever took her fancy, she had already bitten Damien; but he'd been stupid enough to put his finger in her mouth to start with, so he had deserved that.

"Okay, deal, but she better not bite me."

"Hey now, no promises there yo!"

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**_A/N: Any thoughts or pointers? Thanks for reading huns!_**


	3. Damien

**_A/N: Hiya huns! Summer Holidays so rule - sleep, eat, sleep somemore :P_**

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"I swear Reno, if she bites me like she bit Damien…"

"Hey, she likes you, and you're not dumb enough to put your finger in her mouth yo."

Reno cut himself short as looked towards the door of the lounge, having heard several shouts from the corridor outside. Okay, being fair; the recruits could be a bit noisy at times, along with the fully fledged Turks too, but that was to be expected when there were so many people crammed into one building. They were even short on accommodation, which had never happened before. Another few weeks and the ranks would be weeded out considerably and the influx of personnel would be relocated to other stations around Gaia. But it wasn't the usual shouting, no chatter and gossip accompanying the raised voices, that narrowed it down to one thing; Damien.

Damien ShinRa was Rufus' son, the nineteen-year-old heir to ShinRa Electric Power Company and the complete opposite of what an ideal son should be. The kid had brains to burn, no doubt there, just a pity he never chose to use them most of the time. He was smart and he was likeable, but he was frustratingly oblivious to the responsibilities of being a vice President. Always skiving off board meetings; showing up late for them, falling asleep in the middle of them, saying inappropriate truths to the other executives, dressing casually when instructed to dress formally and constantly weaving through the corridors on his skateboard. If Reno didn't know any better, he was almost prepared to bet the kid's feet were nailed to his beloved skateboard.

Reno rolled his eyes towards the ceiling as he glanced towards the wall mounted clock as he mentally ran through the meeting's starting time and the time now; it would have just ended. Give it another few minutes and Rufus' shouts would join the corridors; yelling threats and punishments after the youngster. Pretty ironic really, considering the _perfect_ son Rufus had been. The Turk shook his head as he stood, taking a second of consideration before dropping an arm around his goddaughter and dragging her with him – knowing Damien, he had probably put his foot somewhere wrong as usual – Rach would come in handy for defusing a situation.

* * *

"Watch it!"

"You're not supposed to use that damn thing inside!"

"Cop on and grow up!"

"Wait until your father catches you Damien!"

Why did they think he was using the skateboard? Seemed kinda obvious in his opinion; him plus a skateboard equalled a faster speed than his pissed off Dad. He hadn't even done anything wrong this time, well not really. Okay, he had been late, but only by a little bit. Half an hour was a little bit, right? Though he had to admit, being kicked out of his bed by Rod had been a rather humorous experience. It was better than being awoken by Rude or Cissnei – god that had happened once – talk about a nightmare. She had gone into total Mommy mode on his ass, complete with the angered lecture which somehow managed to morph into one of those "I'm disappointed in you" speeches. Rod usually just kicked him out of the bed and out of his room. Cissnei came equipped with lectures and yells. Rude just stared at him, accompanied by a few choice words. Reno was the worst possible wake up call, luckily for him the head Turk had only ever awoken him once…that had not been a fun morning…at all. Being dragged half-asleep down a corridor and thrown into the middle of a board meeting in nothing more than his boxers, let's just say his father had been none too pleased.

"Duh, why d'you think I'm heading this way?"

Cissnei stopped mid-step as she put her arm out across two recruits, stopping them from walking out any further into the wide and congested corridor. She had already heard the shouts of others from further down the corridor and put two and two together. If they stepped out, they were likely to become more obstacles in an obstacle course Damien seemed to enjoy running daily. Cissnei sighed as she watched the youth weave between numerous black-suited personnel, tattered jeans trailing around the sides of his worn sneakers, how his lacers or frayed jeans' ends didn't end up tripping him was a complete mystery to her. She gave him until near the end of the corridor before the President collared him. Damien seemed to be running out of escape routes lately; Rufus had grown wise to the teenager's usual routes throughout the building and had taken to using that knowledge to try to knock some sense into his laid-back son.

"Gotcha."

Rach winced as she watched Damien land heavily upon the floor of the corridor. A rather smug looking Rufus standing over him, his left foot firmly placed on the back of the teenager's skateboard. Why did he always think he would get away with it? Seriously, it usually ended in the same way it just had, so why the keep bothering? Would it not just be easier to get up and pretend to be the perfect son for a few hours in the long run? It would be, but then again that was probably why Damien refused to do so, the idiot was headstrong and stubborn beneath his laid-back façade.

"Dumb-ass, you knew that was going to happen."

A cheeky smirk and innocent blue eyes, half hidden by dirty-blond bangs was all that met her as a reply. Stupid move, now he was just digging himself in deeper. It didn't take a genius to know that when you were in trouble with your parents; you donned a sorry face, put on the puppy dog eyes, played the sorry card and hoped to God you got away light. You most certainly did not disregard your evidently pissed off father and smirk up at a friend. Rach flinched she tried to keep a smile from her own face as Rufus rounded on his son, a dull ache still present in her chest.

"Would it kill you to grow up? How many times do I have to say it until you get it into your head? You've finished school, you've finished your exams; you are not a kid anymore, so stop acting like one!"

As a matter of fact, he reckoned it would kill him. And it didn't matter how many times he was told the same thing, Damien was determined to do the opposite to whatever it was. Yeah, he had finished school, for whatever use that had been. All the other teenagers he had gone to school with had all worked their asses off to get to University or into jobs, he hadn't. It wasn't that he had been lazy or not bothered in school, but he had known he wasn't going to University, he knew he would take up the Vice President's role in the company full time. So while all his classmates had been stressing over exam results and learning formulas, he had been contently scribbling or drawing random sketches in the back of his copy.

Why was it always the same lecture anyhow? Grow up, do this, do that, be here at such and such a time, be there at such and such a time, don't wear this, don't wear that, don't say that, only answer this…yup, stacking up on the rules was a great idea, the higher the stack of them got, the more he tended to revolt. If people would just back off and leave him be him instead of trying to force him into a ready-made mould, then they might be surprised.

Damien groaned as he pulled himself up from the floor, dusting off the back of his jeans as he nodded through his anguished listening. He had just sat through two whole hours of old men arguing about stuff he really didn't give a damn about, surely he was allowed cut loose now? Wow, parents really loved this lecture stuff, especially when they got on a roll with it, they could yell all day. The youngster rolled his eyes as the lecture stretched on, mentally thanking his messy hair for hiding this.

Reno shook his head as he watched the scene before him, Damien wasn't listening – not that that was anything new – but if the President noticed that, then the shit would surely hit the fan. The two of them were too alike for their own good, even if they wouldn't admit it. Meticulous tempers, analytic views, major authority problems…that was probably the most likely cause of their clashes. For honesty to ring true, Rufus had not been the most compliant of sons, even being placed under house-arrest at one point, that hadn't happened Damien yet though if he kept going at the rate he was, it was only a matter of time. The best thing they could do right now was separate, go cool down, and go at round two later. Time to interrupt the situation.

Rach startled as someone poked a finger into her back, a quick glance over her shoulder and she understood Reno's look. She gave the Turk a quick nod as she stepped forward quickly, Reno doing the same. Each grabbing the attention of the two individuals that had become the sole interest of the whole floor, she kicked up the end of Damien's skateboard as soon as Rufus' allowed his firm stand on it to falter slightly, catching it's other end in her hand as she used her other hand to grab a hold of her friend's arm and frog march him to the elevator, only handing him back his skateboard once the doors had closed behind them. She really didn't feel like looking at the funny side of the situation, he would pay for it later, which wasn't funny. It was stupid, especially when he knowingly got himself into these sort of situations.

Damien looked around the interior of the elevator, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with silence of its' small confines, feigning interest in the mirrored wall opposite them, that confused him a little. Why bother putting in a mirrored wall, it simply gave the illusion of space instead of providing it. Would it not have been easier to incorporate larger elevators into the building's plans back when it was built? Considering the amount of staff the building's bowels hid, the elevators were too small in size, too few were in the building alone and they were impractical because of this.

"What's up? Bar set for Friday?"

"…"

"Umm, Rach?"

"…"

Why wasn't she talking, it was usually hard to get her to shut up at the best of times, so what had he done to make her angry or whatever she was right now? It wasn't her birthday, he knew that, so he couldn't have forgotten it. It certainly wasn't his, it couldn't be anything Denzel had done; he was out of Edge with the last few days on long deliveries and was only due back later today or early tomorrow. She'd been standing with Reno, could he have said something? He doubted that, Rach was one of the few people who escaped any bad moods or stressed rants belonged to the head Turk. The nineteen year old glanced down the few inches that separated his height from Rach's as the silence threatened to deafen them both.

"So…guess I'll be the one to bite the bullet – why're you doing a rather convincing impression of the Snow Queen?"

No, no, no – she was angry at him for being an idiot – she didn't want to smile! That only encouraged him. Rach kept her eyes fixed to the floor instead of the mirrored wall as she noticed Damien staring at her with faked puppy dog eyes; he was far from innocent in anything. But no, she was pissed off that he didn't realise how much he pushed things at times, he wasn't allowed to make her laugh right now.

"Rach-Rach-Rach-Rach-Rach-Rach-Rach-"

Rach mentally cursed herself as a smile made its' way to her lips; he won this round. That wasn't fair though, he knew she couldn't keep a straight face when he was being like this. The idiot could talk his way out of any situation by making a joke out of it; that was both a good thing and a bad thing though. In school it had been a good thing, mainly because he had used that unusual knack to bail her out on several occasions, despite her being a year below him. But now that they were out of school it was proving to be a bad thing – he never too responsibilities seriously. Okay, she knew she wasn't a massive fan of rules and responsibilities either, but at the end of the day; it was life. If her Mom asked her to help out in the bar for a few hours, she did. Regardless of whatever else she had had planned, she didn't skive off or simply not show up.

But on the other hand, she understood why Damien acted like he did. His Dad and the rest wanted him to be responsible, well-mannered, and all the other attributes he wasn't. Damien was Damien and always would be; laid-back, stubborn, analytic in his views; always wanting to know why something was the way it was and how it worked. Truthfully; he would probably make a good Vice President or even CEO but only if everyone else backed off and let him be him, either that or he would continuously abandon the responsibility.

"You're a jack-ass, you know that right?"

Rach watched as her friend stuck his tongue out at her before dropping the front of his skateboard to the floor as the elevator doors opened and used his left leg to push him out of its' small interior, almost knocking two young technicians as he did so. He kept facing her, making himself more of a safety hazard as he couldn't see where exactly he was going. She had given up on receiving an answer until the older teenager stopped and stepped back off his skateboard, shooting her a cheeky smirk as he spotted several of his father's business associates exiting the building.

"Yup, but I've learned to accept and embrace that reality, trust me, it makes things so much more fun!"

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading!_**


	4. First

**_A/N: Hiya huns!_**

* * *

"Your Dad's gonna kill you one of these days."

Damien shook his head; a confident smirk on his face as he looked back over his should to his friend. Yeah right, no way would his Dad ever kill him. Throw him off his skateboard, throw something at him, cap him out of his bed, things like that, but never actually harm him – his mother would murder him if he did. Though he and his Dad did have their difficulties and severe differences, they were still blood at the end of the day. They constantly butted heads and argued, but they had each others backs when the need hadn't always been that way though. His Dad hadn't always been so cold and purpose-driven. He had been like any other father, caring, comforting, easy to get on with, but it had all changed when he'd been seven. That's when the arguing and fighting had reached its' peak and his Mom had left. He remembered when things had been good, but unfortunetly the aftermath of his parents' split seemed to overshadow it. He knew in himself that his parents still cared a lot about each other, but his Dad lived for ShinRa Inc.

He could only guess that they both still cared deeply for each other by how neither had ever filed for divorce. His Mom had moved back to Icicle Inn and had set up a bar there, because of the distance he was lucky to see her in person once a year. Sure, there was always the phone, email, webcam, but it wasn't the same. He was glad she was coming back home for the party. Granted, she may now view it as home any longer but it was still the only home he had known.

That might have confused people, wondering why he had never gone between his parents despite them having joint custody, but when they had split, ShinRa has still been on its' way to re-establishing itself in the economy and business world of Gaia. An area in which the company had been missing from since MeteorFall, in its' absence other companies had flourished and certainly had not been pleased when ShinRa had stepped back into their comfort zone. It had earned the company many new enemies, his Dad had known how those companies worked; the same as ShinRa had. Hitting low to get what they wanted, going for their opponent's weakness to use against them.

That's why he had stayed with his Dad, so his Cissnei always told him anyhow. Cissnei was the only one who answered his questions, his Dad didn't, it was hard to get Rude to talk much about anything, Rod just made a joke out of things and Reno always seemed busy. Cissnei had told him that when his parents had split, his Mom and Dad had agreed that he would stay in Edge due to the Turks being there and more protection there in case any of his Dad's opponents decided to take a leaf out of ShinRa's old book.

"Damien!"

Damien snapped his head up as he registered Rach's sharp shout, he hadn't realised he's spaced out. He guessed she'd been saying something and had noticed he hadn't really been listening, probably on about Friday and the things that still needed to be done before then. He had already agreed to help out, so why was Rach still on about it? Shit, she was still talking…

"Watch where you're go-"

Rach clamped her eyes shut as her warning came too late. Now she knew why so many people hated her friends' skateboard so much, though it wasn't exactly the skateboard's fault that it's owner never paid attention to where he was going or who else may be inhabiting his path of direction. Like now, she'd called his name to stop him slamming into some on coming people. Who exactly they were was beyond here, they weren't from Edge, that much she was sure of. Thanks to her Dad's business she knew of almost every person living in Edge and their addresses.

The youngster grimaced as she watched Damien rub the back of his head, having struck the pavement after knocking both himself and one of the three people that had been walking towards them. He had banged his head pretty hard, and now found himself on his butt for the second time in one morning, not a great start to the week by any standards.

Right now she was more worried about the man Damien had knocked; he didn't seem all that much impressed at her friend's antics. She didn't blame him, of course not; coming to a new city and being bowled from your feet by a youngster on a skateboard certainly wouldn't please her. But was it really necessary to swear that much? Okay, she tended to have a sharp tongue on her at times, but only if someone was really annoying her or if she got into a bad argument with someone, but she certainly would go off on a blue streak at a complete stranger she had bumped into by accident.

"Goddamn it kid! Watch where you go with that – some of us people like to walk on the damn pavement!"

Damien stared at the man for a second or two, trying to figure out whether he knew him or not. Short greying blond hair, thick accent, a pack of cigarettes peeped out of the man's pants pocket at him; he didn't think he knew him, which meant he probably wasn't from Edge. Whoever the dude was, he had one serious anger management problem. Yeah, he had knocked him, but he'd managed to knock himself too, it had been an honest accident. Wasn't it a bit early for a bollicking? Maybe not considering the one he'd got from his Dad already, but that was different. Dads were supposed to yell at their sons, it was just a law of nature.

He really hadn't been kidding earlier when he'd said parents could really keep going at this yelling stuff when they got on a roll, he assumed this guy was a Dad anyhow. There was a woman and a teenager standing watching too, he guessed they'd been the lucky ones to avoid his skateboard. The youngster looked around the same age as him and Rach. He also looked pretty pissed off as he shot the man a warning glare before grabbing his arm and pulling him back to his feet.

"Get the hell over it already."

"Get over it – oh yeah, easy for you to say – you didn't get a face full of the damn ground, and don't y'all tell me to get over somethin! I'll get over whatever I like whenever I want!"

Rach bit back a laugh as Damien looked up to her with a frown, raising his eyebrows suggestively as he inclined his head towards the still ranting man. Though she really didn't think now would be a good time to try the guy's patience, it had already proved itself in short supply. Best thing they could do was apologize, drop off the package in her pocket to Mrs. Allows, and get back to the bar. There was still a ton of stuff to get done before Friday, so far it was only her and her Mom organizing things. Denzel would help once he got back, her Dad was being kept busy with deliveries lately but her Mom had persuaded him book off the week from Wednesday on until the following Monday. But persuasion she really meant her Mom had threatened to take Fenrir' keys and hide them until the party was over with…her Mom was the master of persuasion.

"Say sorry idiot…"

Damien winced as Rach's elbow hit him sharply into the side of his ribcage, gee thanks for all she knew he could have hurt himself there or something! He'd hurt his head alright…not that she cared, nope, if he told her she'd probably just hit him there and then tell him to apologize, why did people like hurting him lately? He'd started off the painfully early morning with a lovely wake up call from Rod and floor, then a two hour board meeting, okay maybe that hadn't exactly physically harmed him, but one hundred and twenty minutes of listening to pompous, big headed disillusioned and morbidly obese men would leave him with psychological scars for years to come…especially when one had brought his wife, she'd only been a few years older then him and Rach. Seriously, he wasn't exaggerating on that, it was pretty simple what she had seen in the president of Gurden Inc., it certainly wasn't his greying and receding hair line, nor had it been his inch thick glasses…he doubted very much it was the man's seniority in age, what he could fathom a guess at it being was the lovely fat pay check that rivalled the man's belt girth.

"Damien!"

Ha, he'd dodged that time! Sucker, he wasn't about to take another bruise this morning. He was already pretty sure the wake up call from Rod and the floor had earned him friction burns on his elbows from the carpeted floor in his bedroom, his Dad's unexpected presence on his escape route had earned a tumble head over heels before colliding with the wall…and now along with a bump on the back of his head Rach was hell bent on hurting him too. Damien stuck his tongue out as he kicked his skateboard up into his hand, shooting Rach a mocking smirk as he dodged yet another elbow before turning to face the still fuming man.

"Look, I'm really sorry; I kinda spaced out and wasn't paying attention, if I hurt you I apologise – hey!"

Now it was her turn to frown...she hadn't meant to push him that hard. Though judging by the look he was giving her from where he now sat on the ground once again, Damien was far from impressed. She'd only pushed him teasing, well he shouldn't have been leaning on his skateboard then, if he hadn't been then he wouldn't have lost his balance so easily. Technically that meant it was his fault, not hers. For some odd reason though, she severely doubted he would see the logic in her reasoning. For want of a better action, along with the want of distracting Damien from the fact she'd just knocked him over, Rach looked back the three people, a small smile on her face as she watched ShinRa's vice president pull himself up from the ground for the fourth time that morning.

"Sorry again…"

* * *

Tifa glanced up from where she stood washing several glasses in the sink to the wall-mounted clock. Mentally counting down the minutes, just like she had done every five minutes for the past hour. Her stomach was already in a knot, on one hand she was wishing the minutes would pass faster but on the other she wished they would slow down. Friday was the party, but everyone had organized to arrive in the following few days instead of all at once only shortly before the party. The first were arriving today; Cid, Shera and their son Mike.

They had been the second to move away, granted Cid had always retained his home in Rocket Town, but the pilot had also spent a lot of time in Edge in the years following Sephiroth's last blow and the Geostigma epidemic. Going back and forth had been relatively easy for him due to his airships, but once everything had quietened down and remained quiet, people had began to drift. For a while it had been like no one had wanted to be the first to part ways, all holding out to see who would be first to leave the city they had watched build itself up from nothing. Once Tseng had announced his and Elena's imminent departure it hadn't taken long for everyone else to leave also.

She had tried to stay in contact with them all for as long as she could, but time just seemed to work against friendships at times. Last she had heard Cid had set up his own company, specialising in airship manufacturing and general engineering. She should have guessed he would, it had been a no brainer really, what else would Cid have done? The man's passion had always been machine based, and by all accounts he had signed a contract with The WRO as manufacturer of all their airships. To the best of her knowledge, Mike had pretty much taken after his Dad and helped out in the business. She wasn't one hundred percent sure of that, but Rufus had mentioned something about them a few weeks back.

"Y'know, watching the clock won't make it go faster Mom."

Even Cloud looked up as the door separating the bar from the living section of Seventh Heaven swung open, allowing Denzel to walk in. Cloud shook his head as he watched the young man walk behind the bar, head straight to the fridge and pull out a bottle. A _hi_ or at least a _hello, I'm home_ wouldn't have gone astray. He goes on a delivery for several days, then just randomly walks in and grabs a drink. As much as Cloud hated to admit it, Denzel had become as bad as, if not worse than he had been for answering his phone. Just so long as he didn't treat Abbie the same way he had treated Tifa, then his ignorance of his phone could be over looked. Denzel hadn't been the easiest of teenagers to deal with, arguing with teachers, arguing with he and Tifa, arguing with pretty much every person going, nothing had got through to the youngster, his head had been up his butt to a painful degree, but then he'd picked up with Abbie. After only a week or two of the start of their relationship and the confrontational youngster had reverted back to his laid-back and talkative self.

"Geez kid, you still livin here? Of have you taken up squatters' rights?"

Denzel laughed as he looked up, leaning his elbows on the counter of the bar, staring at the three new individuals who had just walked through the bar door while his parents had been staring at him. _Welcome back_ would have been nice, anything was better than being stared at as if you had two heads. He'd forgive them though, they were stressed lately, well his Mom certainly was, which in turn was putting pressure on his Dad. It usually took a lot of things or something extremely major to stress his Mom out, the last time he'd seen her this jumpy had been when Marlene had left for University. But it was different this time, all the people he remembered from when he'd been a kid were going to be arriving back in Edge, it was kinda odd that they were all going to be coming back when there was no baddies to fight or planet to save.

He still sounded the same as when they had permanently moved away. Still the same as the first day he'd met him when Bahamut SIN had attacked the city. He still looked pretty much the same, granted the blond of his hair had whitened and greyed somewhat, more lines had become present on his face, but his eyes had remained the same. Sharp and bright, ready to deal with whatever came his way. Denzel shook his head as he straightened up, Shera he recognised no problem, she was the only woman he knew who had more patience than his Mom. The young man bit back a laugh as he caught sight of a packet of cigarettes in the pilot's pocket - old habits died hard.

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading huns!_**


	5. Introductions

_**A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been totally snowed under with school and work.**_

* * *

"I thought you weren't getting here until later?"

That had been the plan. It had been the plan since Tifa had called him up and invited them. It had been the plan a week ago. It had been the plan yesterday…it had been the plan this morning, until Shera had decided years had been time enough to wait, she wanted to see their old friends again. Cid shrugged as Cloud gave him a knowing look. So what if he'd caved? His own personal opinion had been along the lines of if they'd spent all these years apart, what was a few more hours?

But that hadn't been Shera's opinion. But, maybe she had been right. He hadn't wished to lost contact with them all. The year between the whole Geostigma epidemic and Deepground's drama had been an age at the time. But life had just got in the way this time. A week had turned into a month, a month into several, and then the years has had simply waved as they'd passed by.

"That had been the plan, till Shera kicked up a fuss…"

Tifa hid a smile behind her hand as Shera gave her husband a stern look, silencing any further arguments the pilot might have had. The poor woman had the patience of a saint. Cid had given her years of abuse and grief, taking her for granted and treating the ground he'd walked on better than her. But she hadn't walked away and given up. She had managed to put a leash on the rough-talking, and sparsely mannered pilot. Tifa tuned back into the conversation as she saw Cloud holding back a smirk.

"And then this blond kid on a god-damn skateboard ploughed straight into me…brain-dead punk!"

Cloud leaned back against the counter, alongside the cash register, arms folded across his chest as he continued talking, sharing a quick look with his wife, he had a funny idea he knew who the blond kid was, especially with the mention of a skateboard.

"Was there a girl with him, about the same age?"

"Yeah - he had a girlfriend…made me pity the guy, she was just like Shera to him - hey!"

He should have seen that one coming, Shera was sitting right next to him, it was stupid to poke fun at her when you were within striking distance. Cloud shook his head at Cid's assumption though. If Rach heard anyone referring to her as Damien's girlfriend, she would hit the roof. People always assumed the two were a couple, and he understood why. They were always together, always teasing each other, and always talking.

Cloud often wondered why the two didn't just cave and dive into a relationship. He knew only too well that the two of them were dancing around the commitment and the risk of screwing up a friendship in the process. Cloud looked back to Cid as the pilot gave him a questioning glare, one that had usually foreshadowed a blue streak in their younger days.

"The girl, about eighteen, black hair, probably hit the blond kid?"

Cid nodded, still not too sure where this was going.

"She's not his girlfriend, she'd probably kill you for thinking she was, that's one thing Rach is adamant about."

Cid was saved a shocked reaction as Shera leaned forward on the bar's counter, realisation brightening up her features. She'd known the two kids had been familiar. She just hadn't been able to place their faces. Rachelle had really grown up since they'd left Edge. She had resembled Cloud more so when she'd been a toddler, not so much in her eyes or hair colour, but the shape of her face and personality had definitely contained traits from her father. Whereas from what she had seen in their short encounter today, Rach had grown to resemble her mother now.

"That was Rach? Oh my god, she's grown up so much Tifa!"

Tifa smiled as she nodded, placing the last of the dirty glasses into the dishwasher tray. Rach certainly had, she'd just finished school, her exam results would be available in a few weeks. It didn't matter what her results were though, no one would hold them up against another's and criticise them; Marlene had always had an insatiable interest in subjects beyond her years, Denzel had spent more days bunking off school than he had actually in the classroom. Rach had been a mixture of the both; average grades, but regular visits to the Principal's office. Tifa's attention snapped back to the loaded tray in her hands as she felt it being pulled away, it took her a moment to realise it was Denzel pulling the laden tray from her hands.

"I'll bring it through - go play with your friends!"

* * *

"So, how're you planning to not get in trouble when you go home?"

"Um…I'm supposed to have a plan?"

Rach clenched her eyes shut, cringing through a face/palm urge. This was why Damien spent most of the time in hot water, he just didn't understand that some things had consequences. You can't make scene, walk away, then simply walk back in and expect there to be no back-lash.

A strategy was always a good place to start. Or at least, it always soften the blow when she was in trouble. Something along the lines of, quiet entrance, a moment or two of sulky skirting around, then the broody sigh and the lead into a half apology. It usually got her off the hook with her Mom. Her Dad was another story though, he knew most of her tricks and didn't fall for them.

"Y'know, have you considered the strange possibility, that maybe - just maybe - you might be in the wrong?"

The only sign that Damien had heard her was the slowed speed of his skateboard. Damien stood still atop his board, allowing his friend to walk on ahead as he considered her words. Him…wrong…it was a possibility, albeit an unlikely one. But where was the fun in admitting you could be wrong? It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong, he'd just been saving time…nothing wrong with that, right? And wasn't it his Dad who was always preaching about saving time and energy consumption? So, technically it was all his Dad's fault.

Damien shook his head, hair immediately falling back down over his eyes. He kicked off hard, catching up with Rach in a few seconds.

"Kay, thought about it…nah, not likely."

Rach forced back another face/palm urge, before deciding her attention was better off focused on something other than her painfully blond friend. No wonder he drove Rufus up the wall. To be fair, they both drove their parents up the wall. She was good for doing it at times too. She didn't mean to, but sometimes she just wanted them to quit worrying and leave her go make mistakes for herself.

Was she being stupid not telling them about earlier? If she told them, then she could end up getting pulled into hospital for tests for anywhere between a day and a few weeks. She didn't want that, not now. Not when her parents had put so much into organising Marlene's surprise party.

Damien looked back over his shoulder, noticing how quiet Rach had gotten. Something was eating her, he could see it on her face, except she wouldn't say anything until he asked or noticed. She was odd like that, didn't confide about her own personal things until someone brought them up, she hated thinking she was leaning on someone when they were busy with their own issues.

"Spill short-stuff...this about earlier? And don't look at me like that, Reno sent me a text after we left the ShinRa building."

Rach held her friend's smug look for a moment, silently promising to give Reno an earful later. Rach turned around on her heels, talking quickly, half afraid she would stop herself from fully confiding in Damien.

"Okay, I know I should tell them, but then I'll miss Marlene's party and throw a huge spanner in the works for everyone else...which I really don't want to do, coz Mom and Dad have been organizing this for ages...Damien! Are you even listening?"

Damien snapped his head up, almost losing his balance on his skateboard, he stared blankly ahead; fearing another head on collision with some other disgruntled pedestrian. The footpath was clear, he shot Rach an evil glare for startling him. Of course he was listening. That's the mistake a lot of people made about him – just because he wasn't paying them his full attention didn't mean he wasn't listening. She was stressing over getting sick again and scared that Mummy and Daddy would over react. It wasn't that Cloud and Tifa totally over reacted any time she fell ill, they were her parents, it was their job to worry about her.

"Course I am! Don't yell at me like that Rach – never mind your heart – you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Rach fought against the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, but it was no good. This was why he was her best friend, he knew when to crack a joke and how to make her feel better. Maybe she was stressing just a little too much? She silently shrugged off her worries as she realised how close they were to Seventh Heaven. Rach smirked and ran forward, grabbing the back of her friend's t-shirt and pulling him back off his skateboard, kicking the board up with her foot and walking on ahead with it.

Damien stood still and watched for several seconds, before realising she had actually just done that.

"Hey! Rachelle Strife, don't make me take that from you!"

"Tch – try it and I scream. I scream and my Dad's gonna come get you, still wanna try?"

* * *

"So, they really ain't together?"

Cloud followed Cid's nod, eyes coming to rest upong his daughter tormenting Damien, his beloved skateboard in her hands. Nope, definitely not. Damien flirted with her alright, but Rach never bit. He was glad of that though. He didn't have anything personal against Damien, he was Rufus' son, if anything the youngster was like family in a way. But the ShinRa heir had a bit of a reputation as a Romeo where girls were concerned. Rach knew that too, she had a clever head on her shoulders and knew how to deal with the wiry blond.

"Nope. Not for lack of trying on his part though...Hey Rach! Stop tormenting him!"

Rach stuck her tongue out at Damien as she jumped out of his reach again, turning as she heard her Dad's voice. She took a breath to shout back a smart comment, but stopped as she noticed the man standing alongside him on the footpath outside of Seventh Heaven – he was the guy Damien had knocked over earlier...now she knew why he'd looked so familiar, it was Cid. Rach looked up as Damien drapped his arms over her shoulders, she elbowed him in the ribs and nodded towards her Dad.

She watched as the colour slowly drained from her friend's face as Cid smirked and saluted sarcastically. Cid had been the one parent who'd frightened Damien when they'd been younger. He'd never actually done anything to Damien, or at least not that she could remember. But he had always been the one Damien was quiet and well behaved around. And now Damien had literally bowled the man over. She hid her own smirk as Damien rested his chin on the top of her head, eyes still stuck on her Dad and Cid.

"Ah, crap..."

* * *

**_A/N: It's kinda short :( And I apologise if there are any painfully annoying spelling mistakes. My laptop is ready to just die, but I refuse to get a new one until this one not longer turns on. Right now, three out of my four USB ports don't work, my battery won't chart, it makes a weird noise and my microsoft word won't work either. I'm using open office, but I have to download the latest yet, if my laptop doesn't freak out on me -_-_**


	6. Second

**_A/N: So yeah, this fic is actually still alive -_-. Sorry for how long it's taken me to update it :(_**

* * *

Junon had certainly allowed their standards to slip in the past few years. They would never have allowed such a weak troop of recruits through when he had joined, then again, he hadn't exactly went through training before joining the Turks. Reno groaned as he shut the last recruit file. He'd spent his whole morning wading through the files; separating them into three groups: those who would be staying with the company, those who would be sent back to the academy for further training, and those who he never wanted to see in a Turks' uniform again.

Many of the fully qualified Turks were back from missions and had spent the last two weeks drilling the recruits on basic and required skills. The list of accepted recruits would be posted in the morning, those not on the list would be returned to Junon for further training; the third group was simply for his own benefit.

He'd already text Aly, letting her know that he couldn't pick Leigh up from crèche, he'd be here until late organising the transport for the returning recruits and accommodation for those who would remain with the company; he'd meet her at 7th Heaven after work. He had to talk to Rach later anyhow; he'd decided to put off going out Tuesday night. He wasn't sure when the arrivals were due to start showing up, but he assumed there would be at least one or two by then, he didn't want Rach to be stuck babysitting in his apartment when some of her old friends were around. If some of the others were back by then, the only place he and Aly would be going would be 7th Heaven anyway, Tifa wouldn't mind if they brought Leigh.

"Who would have thought you would ever do paper-work willingly?"

Reno glanced up, expecting to see Rod standing in the doorway of his office. The younger Turk had been tied up with managing missions with the last week or two, but the second-in-command of the Turks rarely passed up an opportunity to comment on his dislike for paper work. However, Rod wasn't the individual standing at his door, the man had once sported the black suit of the Turks, but years had passed since the man had stepped away from his role within ShinRa. Reno smiled as he stood and walked to the other side of his desk, leaning against its edge as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"And I still hate it. It's good to see you, Tseng."

* * *

"I guess the arrivals have started, huh?"

Damien felt Rach nod as he rested his head on her shoulder, watching both Cid and Cloud re-enter 7th Heaven. Cid and Shera were early, but welcome nonetheless. The man scared him, but he was still cool, a bit hot-headed if his memory served correct, but he had still been one of the more lenient parents.

That meant the teenager who had helped Cid to his feet earlier, had been Mike. He'd certainly grown up a lot since they'd all seen each other last. They'd been best friends as kids. Damien and Mike had been the ringleaders of the gang, planning and leading the group's schemes. Damien wondered how their friendship would hold up after almost sixteen years of separation, but he wasn't about to waste time worrying about such matters.

After all, Tifa had spent the better part of the last six months organising Friday's reunion; Marlene was finally finishing University. After years of assignments, long placement hours, exams and lecture timetables, the young woman could finally enjoy the job she had worked so hard to attain. Damien envied her; he could never put so much work into anything like she had. He had a head for business, but lacked the attention span to concentrate through two-hour board-meetings and proposals; Marlene had spent years leafing through books and researching academic papers, of all people she definitely deserved a surprise.

"C'mon short-stuff, I promised your Mom that I'd give a hand cleaning the bar."

Rach smirked as she grabbed her friend's arms and pulled him along behind her.

"Or you could swallow your pride and go home to your Dad?"

"Tch, we both know the answer to that question, Rach."

"Clean the bar?"

"Yup!"

Scrubbing the top shelves for Tifa definitely seemed the more attractive way to spend the day, particularly when compared with his father's stony glare and lectures. He cared about his father, he knew his Dad would do anything for him when it came down to it, but they were too alike; they butted heads ninety percent of the time. Damien couldn't wait for his Mom to arrive from Icicle Inn. Almost a full year had passed since he had visited her, with Rude and Cissnei accompanying him under his father's orders. However, the excitement he felt was undermined by dread; his parents were incapable of being in the same room without arguing.

Damien looked up as he allowed Rach to tow him towards the door of 7th Heaven; things would be different this time, she wouldn't be left out. He had been three or four when everyone had gone their separate ways, but he still remembered running through the corridors of ShinRa and bowling past patrons in 7th Heaven. All while Rach had remained in either her parents arms or on Denzel's shoulders, she hadn't been able to keep up with the group. Damien was adamant that his friend would be left sitting on the sidelines this time.

"Your father called, he said to tell you that you're not off the hook yet."

Damien rolled his eyes at Denzel's relayed message; he wouldn't be off the hook for the next two weeks, not that it ever made a difference. He had made personal decision not learn from experience.

Denzel bit back a laugh as he watched the blond roll to a stop in the middle of the bar, eyes looking towards the ceiling as he disregarded his father's warning. He pitied Rufus; Damien generally did his utmost to do the opposite of what was expected of him. But by all accounts, it was an ironic turn considering Rufus's actions in his younger years.

7th Heaven had become Damien's home away from home after board-meeting-mornings. Rufus knew his son ended up at the bar after escaping the ShinRa building; it gave the CEO time to calm down and kept Damien out of trouble until the next morning.

"Board meeting - who dragged you out of bed today?"

"Rod…I was getting kinda sick of Cissnei's lectures."

Denzel nodded as he leaned his elbows on the counter of the bar; Rufus was bound to lose the plot with his son some day soon if he didn't take his responsibilities seriously.

"Y'know, if you really want to confuse them, you should show up on time and do whatever it is you do in board meetings."

Damien gave Denzel a poignant look as he kicked off and glided towards the bar counter. He wasn't that stupid, if he did that, people would start expecting him to keep it up. He preferred his daily run through the corridors of the building.

"And lose out on my morning exercise? Nah."

The blond turned from Denzel and outstretched a hand to the man sitting at the bar; Cid may strike the fear of God into him, but that was even more reason to make sure there were no hard feelings about their collision earlier. He ignored the uncomfortable tightening in his stomach as Cid turned to face him, a smirk already on his face.

"Uh, about earlier, sorry aga - wuh!"

A yank backwards and a sudden sensation of weightlessness came to an abrupt end, the wooden floorboards of the bar at his back and the ceiling-fan staring down at him. Damien groaned as he tried to sit up, the back of his head thumped with pain as he looked around for a culprit; Mike stood a few feet away, grinning as he turned a skateboard over in his hands before looking up and winking to a laughing Rach.

"Always wanted one of these."

* * *

Tseng glanced up from the framed photo in his hand; Reno, a young woman with long brown hair and an infant girl with the same coloured hair stared back up at him from behind the glass. He had been vaguely aware of Reno's relationships in the past, the man had done his utmost to keep his personal life separate from the Turks, but rumours and gossip had found its way to his ears from time to time. The golden band on the man's finger had been the first thing to catch his eye when he had entered the office; the framed photo had been the second.

"I see you and Aly sorted things out?"

Reno smiled as he nodded, it had taken a long time to work things out, but it had all been worthwhile. He had been the last to guess he'd ever have a family of his own, but people grew up.

"It took a while, but we got there. Leigh is just about nine months … where's Laney and San?"

"They ran into your second-in-command in reception; why Rod and not Rude?"

Reno leaned back against his desk, a small smirk tugging at his lips; Tseng may have retired his post within the Turks, but he hadn't dulled in the least. Tseng had always been aware of his and Rude's partnership; they worked well together and knew each other better than anyone else, so it was bound to come as a surprise that Rod was the second in charge of the Turks. It hadn't been a decision he'd made lightly. Reno had spent several weeks following Tseng and Elena's departure considering who to offer the post to. Rude had been the obvious choice, and it hadn't been one he'd ignored.

He had offered the post to Rude, he had literally begged the man to accept the post, but Rude had politely declined. Reno had initially been stunned by his friend's refusal, but the man had explained why. Rude had never been one to venture after higher positions, he had always been satisfied with his job within the Turks. He had never applied for promotions or specialist areas. Reno argued that neither had he, but Rude had pointed out how he had always strived to improve on past performances.

Rude had asked to simply remain his right-hand man, just without the responsibilities of organising the force. It had been Rude to recommend Rod. The younger Turk had willingly joined the Turks in order to improve his skills. From his first day in the Turks, it had been his goal to reach the top ranks of the force. He may have lacked sense in his younger years, but Rod had always completed missions and with minimal casualties.

"Short answer: Rod's always driven himself to be the best. Rude is happy with his position as it is."

Tseng nodded as he placed the photo back onto his past-subordinate's desk; he would have made the same decision. Rude was an invaluable member of the Turks, but not one suited to a superior role. Rod, while a bit unruly when he first joined, had always worked to be the best in whatever he had tried his hand at. It seemed Reno had finally grown up too; putting his personal biases aside to look at the larger picture; he had left the Turks in good hands. Tseng smiled as he glanced around his old office; he had passed numerous suited individuals in the corridors on his way here. Some had recognised him, many had not. The younger members would know his name, but not his face. Part of him regretted that, but another part of his was happy; he wasn't their commander anymore, he was simply an old friend.

"I made the right choice; you're doing a great job, Reno."

* * *

**_A/N: I know it's a little short, sorry :( But hopefully the next chapter won't be so far away. I would have had this up earlier; I managed to delete what I had wrote by accident, then forgot what my password for this way. Thanks for reading ;)_**


	7. Bandwagon

_**A/N: Hi guys - I won't bore you with an apology for how long it's taken to update (it's getting a bit repetitive at this stage:)**_

* * *

"You could have just asked, y'know?"

Rach hid a smile as Damien slid into the seat beside her; rubbing the back of his head as he eyed his stolen skateboard. It certainly hadn't been his day; his Dad had capped him off the skateboard that morning, followed by a head-on collision with Cid, then she had managed to knock him to the pavement, and now Mike had sent him sprawling … he might adore his skateboard, but it seemed to her that it only brought him bad luck, and a lot of injuries.

"Yeah right, that thing is practically nailed to your feet."

The look of feigned hurt was almost enough to make her laugh; he would never admit to being wrong. As long as she had known him, Rach had never once seen Damien clearly admit to doing something wrong. He joked, laughed and down-played situations, but he never admitted to making mistakes or being to blame. It annoyed her and frustrated Rach at times, but Damien usually flashed a smirk and got away with it.

She might hate how he avoided responsibilities and how he drove his father up the wall, but Rach had come to accept her best friend's attitude towards his duties. Damien would work when needed and would do his utmost for ShinRa and his father if need be, but under his own conditions and on his own terms.

Rach glanced down as she felt her phone buzz, she flipped the phone open and read through the message before looking back up, trying to suppress a laugh as she spoke.

"You're in soo much trouble, your Dad's coming here with Reno."

She quickly grabbed her friend's arm and yanked him back as he tried to stand up and find an escape route; he would have to face the music sooner or later, if not now then in the morning when one of the Turks dragged him from his bed again. Rufus wouldn't go that hard on him, now when Cid, Shera and Mike were watching.

Damien hadn't changed much, he still avoided responsibilities and liked to annoy people. He still had the same messy blond hair and cheeky smirk. He couldn't say the same for Rach, she had definitely changed a lot over the years. He remembered her either sitting on Denzel's shoulders or being held in her father's arms, Mike couldn't recall her ever joining them in their childhood chases; judging by how she had succeeded in knocking Damien from his feet earlier and even swiped his skateboard outside, that aspect of her life had changed. Damien was still keen to run from the consequences of his joking, his mother had given him hell to pay for when they'd been kids.

"Be thankful it's not your Mom, she used to really let shout at you when we were kids."

Rach shot Damien a quick glance; Mike didn't know about his parents. Damien made jokes about it and spoke to his mother as often as he could, but he generally avoided being serious about it, not even to her. She knew it bothered him, but now everyone was reappearing for Marlene's party on Friday; all his old friends would have both of their parents with them. His Mom was coming back too, but her and Rufus weren't exactly on the best of terms.

"I'd have to be in some serious shit for her to do that now … if she came the whole way from Icicle Inn just to yell at me, I think prison would be my next stop."

"Icicle Inn, but -"

"My Mom and Dad split when I was seven. Mom moved back to Icicle Inn, she's coming back for the party though."

* * *

"This place hasn't changed much since we left, apart from the staff getting younger."

"Maybe you're just getting older?"

Rufus's comment would have made her blush in the past, but now she just smiled and acknowledge his humour. The lobby of the ShinRa building had emptied as the sky had darkened outside, many of the staff had gone home, with only a skeleton crew staying on through the night. Things had been a lot different in the years before she'd had San; ShinRa had stayed full staffed throughout the day and night, working alongside the WRO, searching for any sign of SOLDIER or the Remnants; for a long time, they had all expected some other shadow of their pasts to creep up and disrupt their lives, they had been scared to dream or move on, but they'd managed it in the end.

Rod had filled her in on the main points of the past years; Rufus and Lou splitting up, Reno and Aly getting married, Damien's morning routine. Rufus and Lou splitting up had caught her off guard, but time changed things, after all, her and Tseng had started off as colleagues. Elena glanced ahead as she continued walking; Reno and Tseng walked ahead of her, San by her father's side as they stepped through the glass doors of the ShinRa building and out into the cold evening air of Edge.

"So, where's Damien? I'm dying to see him, I bet he's grown up so much."

"Physically, yes. Mentally, not so much."

"Huh?"

Her confusion was understandable. He was being short, but it wasn't her fault. Rufus was still angry over Damien's behaviour that morning; he dreaded to know what the other CEOs were now saying about his son and personal life. However, he couldn't allow his son's immature actions to cast a shadow on the week; Tifa had worked extremely hard to ensure everyone would be back for the party on Friday. Besides, he hadn't seen these people in years, Damien's morning routine could be ignored for a couple of days.

"It takes a Turk to kick him out of bed for board meetings. He uses the corridors as his own personal obstacle course with that damn skateboard … he does anything he can to annoy me at times."

Those were ironic words coming from the man's mouth. The way Tseng remembered things, Rufus hadn't been the most compliant of sons either. They were all getting a taste of their own medicine now that they had kids of their own. The Turks had nothing on the stress level a daughter induced. San was as tough as any boy, but didn't tend to realise her own limitations at times.

"Who was the son that leaked information to AVALANCHE?'

A quick smirk and feigned shrug of his shoulders; as far as Rufus was concerned, he had always been the epitome of a good son.

"I was a _model_ son."

Reno bit back a laugh as he heard the President's claim; model son. Between leaking information to AVALANCHE and all the other schemes Rufus had concocted, Damien wasn't half as troublesome as his father had been. He was coming in close second, but until the youngster landed himself under house arrest, Rufus certainly held onto his title of a good son.

"_**Reno!**_"

The Turk smiled as San wrapped her arms around his neck, unintentionally pulling him down to her level; height certainly wasn't something the teenager had been blessed with. He had spent long enough teasing Elena about being vertically challenged when they'd been working together.

Reno frowned as he noticed another youngster standing to the left of his old work colleague; he definitely wasn't vertically challenged, sandy-brown hair and dark grey, almost black eyes; the same as a certain past leader of the Turks. His attention snapped back to the smiling Elena as realisation dawned on him.

"You've a second kid?"

"No, I just followed them the whole way from Wut-"

"Jared."

Elena shot her son a wary glare as she pushed him out the door ahead of everyone else; he was still in a bad mood about having to leave Wutai early. Teenagers were so easy to upset at times. They had been planning on traveling to Edge with Yuffie, Vincent and their kids, but Yuffie had got held up with some royal business. They would be arriving in the next day or so with their two daughters, Jenny and Aiveen.

The mother rolled her eyes as San ruffled her younger brother's hair, earning a grumble and elbow from the taller sixteen-year-old. At nineteen, San only came up to her brother's shoulder, the only person she could pride herself on being taller than was Aiveen. It was the source of countless arguments in their household, no matter what the bickering started about, Jared was sure to come back with some height-related comment. Elena ignored her two children as they set about abusing each other, instead turning to answer her old friend's question.

"Yup, never mind him though, he's lovesick, his girlfriend won't be arriving for another day or so … god forbid they spent that long apart."

Reno scratched the tattoo beneath his right eye as he watched the youngster torment San; why would his girlfriend travel the whole way from Wutai to show up for a party where she wouldn't know anyone? Not that she wouldn't be welcome, but it was proving to be a shock reuniting with the people he had already known, he doubted it would be any less confusing for a random teenager.

"Who's his girlfriend?"

"Yuffie and Vincent's daughter."

"Jenny? But she's what now? Eighteen, nineteen?"

Elena nodded her head, fighting not to laugh at the redhead's confusion.

"Nineteen, she's two weeks younger than San. But not Jenny, Jared's going out with her younger sister, Aiveen."

"Wow … everyone jumped on the kiddie bandwagon."

* * *

"How come I got stuck with this job?"

"Because I'm short."

"But it's a ladder, you climb up it, it doesn't really matter if you're short or not."

"Fine - because I didn't trust you to hold it still."

Damien frowned as he paused his attempts to reach the back of the top shelves; why didn't she trust him? The youngster pulled himself back out from the shelves and glared down at his friend from atop the step-ladder, leaning dangerously over the top of the ladder as he spoke.

"Why not? I'm heavier than you, wouldn't it make more sense for me to hold it steady?"

Yeah right, the last time he had offered to hold the ladder still for her, he had waited until she was at the top before shaking the end of it. It hadn't been enough to knock her from the ladder, but enough for her to cling onto it and curse him with an extensive vocabulary. Rach gave her friend an evil glare as she grabbed the end of the ladder.

"Cos the last time you held it you kept doing this!"

"Hey! Cloud - make her stop!"

"Are they always like that?"

Cloud rolled his eyes as he nodded his head in response to Mike's question. Rach and Damien were an odd pair, they bickered constantly and weren't happy unless one of them were suffering, but they'd be the first to defend the other against someone else.

"Pretty much … it usually goes on until one of them gets hurt."

Mike turned his bemused attention back to the bickering duo as the door of Seventh Heaven swung inwards, prompting a certain raven-haired seventeen-year-old to turn around, releasing the end of the ladder mid-wobble.

"_**Rachelle!**_"

Rach cringed as she heard her friend's shout, followed by the clatter of the ladder hitting the floor, and a thud a second later … that was another reason why she rarely held the ladder; a short attention span. It was all the teenager could do to flash a sheepish smile at the father of her victim.

"Ooops …"

Rufus sighed as he glanced around Rach, watching his son pull himself up from the floor, mumbling to himself as he shot Rach an evil glare. He had hit the floor hard, but the CEO had seen the youngster take worse falls from his skateboard. So long as there weren't any broken bones, he wasn't too worried; years of misjudged jumps and crash-landings had rendered Damien somewhat immune to concussions.

"I would like to have him in one piece for when his mother gets here, if that's not too much to ask?"

Now he acted like the concerned parent. Damien couldn't help but voice his opinion, regardless of the trouble he was already in with his father.

"Tch, you weren't saying that when you tripped me up this morning."

"That's different."

"How?"

"I'm your father."

"Damien!"

A blur of chestnut and someone had their arms firmly locked around his neck in a hung. The nineteen-year-old glanced around the bar, his eyes wide and bewildered until he noticed Tseng and Elena; San. It looked like the girl hadn't outgrown her random ways. Damien smiled as he wrapped his arms around the shorter girl's waist.

"Hey San - long time no see."

Both Cloud and Cid cringed as their wives broke out in painful squeals, before pushing them both aside to greet the newest arrivals; Tseng and Elena. Cloud found himself surprised to see two teenagers with the ex-Turks, but smiled nonetheless. He and Tifa may have only had one biological child, but that didn't mean they only had one kid. He counted Denzel and Marlene as his children too. They had been lucky enough to have Rach, despite doctors telling them it wouldn't happen.

They hadn't wanted to test faith after Rach, especially when they found out about her heart condition, but so much time had passed since they had parted ways, he had no doubts his old friends had extensive families of their own now. Tseng and Elena hadn't changed much since moving to Wutai, though several lines were clearly visible on the man's face, something Cloud had no doubt San had caused. Elena's hair was longer than it had been when she was in the Turks, now sweeping down past her shoulders.

"Grandpa!"

The greeting that had formed in his mouth suddenly abandoned him as a small blur wrapped itself around his leg, Cloud glanced around the newest arrivals in Seventh Heaven to see a more regular face; Abbie. The man smiled as he glanced down at the three-year-old clinging to his leg. He hoisted the boy up into his arms as Denzel emerged from the store, having heard his son's voice amongst Tifa and Shera's squealing.

Jayden had been a bit of a surprise, not only for himself and Tifa, but Denzel and Abbie too. But that was something they had all quickly moved past. His and Tifa's families had been destroyed when Sephiroth destroyed Nibelheim, they had been certain to protect and support the family they had established for themselves in Edge.

It had been unexpected news, but Cloud had silently relished the role of grandfather Denzel had given him, neither Denzel or Rach had ever got to meet their grandparents. His thoughts were quickly pushed aside as Cid clapped him on the shoulder, glancing between the boy in his arms and Denzel, having put two and two together.

"Grandpa - ha! Who's the old man now!"

Elena smiled as she watched Denzel take the toddler from Cloud's arms - she was happy knowing he had made a life for himself too. She wasn't a Turk anymore, but she still couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for the disasters that had marred the young man's childhood. Shinra had orchestrated the collapse of sector seven, killing his parents and countless others. For a long time, Denzel's life had been one disaster after another, but he had never held any animosity towards anyone because of it.

The woman elbowed Reno lightly as she whispered, not taking her eyes off of the laughing toddler in Denzel's arms.

"Looks like Yuffie and I weren't the only ones to jump on the kiddie bandwagon."

* * *

_**A/N: Hope you guys liked ;)**_


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